Improvement in permutation-locks



safe, or a tluitrd gestire @than (trim.

Leiters Patent No. 95,739, dated ctober 12, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N Pia:R15/:trauernolv-LocKs.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patentand making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern.:

vBe it known that I, DANIEL SNELL, of Little Falls, in the county ofHerkimer, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Safe or Vault-Locks; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of thelconstruction and operation of the same, reference Jock.

`Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures,denote like parts in all of the drawings. y A

My invention relates, tirst, to a lock, in which the bolt and itsside-plates' are of uniform, or nearly so,

size, so that the 4lock may be the door of the vault or part of thedoor, and hinged or .pivoted toit; and I l My invention further relatesto a lock, in which the 'bolt is held or controlled by two or moreindependent locking-devices, both of which must be actuated before thebolt can be moved; .and ,p

My invention further relates to a lock, in which the knob or knobs serveasknobsand key both, and in connection'with which the tumblers act bypermutation, and in whicliitumblersfthere are false depressions oropenings for the bolt,"o`r a projectionl thereon, to take into and thusmislead the person attempting to pick the lock or complicate the attemptat finding the wards and tumblers by machinery, as is now done.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and useA` myinvention, Iwill proceed'to describe' the same, with reference to the drawings. l

A represents thelpck as partially swung out ofthe frame B, by whicharrangement the lock serves as a door; but the lock may be set in adoor, which door and lock 'could swing together in the ordinary way.

The lock is composed of three plates, a b o, of uniform, or nearly so,size. The outside plates a c are rinly-united together, and the centralplate b, which is thelock-bolt, moves between the side-plates orcheekspowder, or other explosive material, cannot be worked moved, and -thebolt.

in between them, and they are so thick and solid that they cannot bedamaged or disarranged. y

T hese three plates a b c, two rigid and one movable, maybe said toconstitute the lock, the other features ot' it being the appliances bywhich the movable plate b is looked to the side-plates, or moved betweenthem.

G I) are knobs, secured to the side-plates a c, so that they cannot bedrawn ont, or driven in, and they may be thick enough and hard enough toprevent their being sawed ofi', except withgreat labor and much time.

On these knobs, there is a ring, d, having letters, figures, orcharacters thereon; and this ring, by means of a tooth or cog, e, on itsinterior perimeter, and the series of notchesfon the knob, maybe changedand set at pleasure.

The knobs, or, rather, their shanks g, pass through hubbed. rings ordisks, or what may be termed tinnblers, Ji h, ofwhich there may beone,two, three, four, or more.

In the drawings, I have shown'bpt two hubs, i i,

Veach of which has its flange or diskjj, while, in connection with theknob D, there is a ring, k, interposed between the anges, in which ringthere is a pin, m, that may beset into any onel of the series of holes,I, in the under flange, so as to change the letters, or characters, orcombinations, when desired todo so.

On the flanges that are visible, letters, characters, or marks are made,by the proper arrangement of which the tumblers are s'et, to allow thelbolt to be 4disarrangement of which llocks the lhiscombination ofletters simply for designating an arrangement of tumblers, or adisarrangement ot' them, has been used in various ways, and is wellunderstood, and need not be' elaborated further than to explain themechanical devices that they are placed on.

In the'shan'k of the knob I) are formed, first, a recess, n, into which,when'the knob or knobs are prop'- erly turned, the lock-bolt b may pass;second, a slot,

o, into which the sub-bolt p, on the regular bolt, may

move or enter; and, thirdlya series ot' false holes, q, nto which thesub-bolt p may move a short distance, but not far enough to allow thereal bolt to be unlocked, while this small movement would defeat thefinding of the true movement, by what is'known as the clock-work systemof finding the interior arrangement of a lock.

The bolt proper, b, has openings, 1' r, Src., through it long enough toallow itf'to slide past the screws that pass through them, and hold th'eoutside plates together. It has also grooves, s s s, in it, into whichtongues, u, of which there are three, but one only seen in the sectionon one of the facer or cheek-plates, enter openings t t, through whichthe Shanks of the knobs pass, the. latter, t', being oblong, so that thebolt may slip past the shank of the knob D, which its shank not onlyturn,but slide with the bolt b,

turns, but does not slide, while the other knob G and' though they canonly slide when they are in the precise proper position to do so, andwhich position the combination of letters only can designate, and thatthe exact combination.

The shank of the knob C has a recess, v, in it, which will just receivethe central one of the tongues -u on the cheek-plate, when exactlyopposite to it, and the tumblers and their openings are matched and set,which only the proper arrangement of the letters will accomplish; thenthe bolt and the knob C can be moved, but not otherwise. But before thatknob and the bolt can be moved, the other knob D and its tum blers mustbe properly set, to allow its sub-bolt p to enter the recess or slot o,when the bolt can be moved;

and a second, third, or more checks or locks like that, D, may be used,all of which must be exactly set before the bolt could be used or moved.

There is no spring to give, or yield, when feeling for the tumblers, or`to indicate when they are free or have friction upon them.

The only indications of yielding, or feeling;1 in my lock, arev falseones, and misleadinstead of showing any-definite arrangement within.

The hubs of the'tumblers 'i are furnished with openings w, which, thoughthey admit thesnb-bolt p, a short distance, do not allow it to passthrough, the hole in one partially closing that in the other, and thebolt can only move when the opening :vin the tum blers comes fairly andsquarely in line with the subbolt p. l

lhe Shanks have shouldered recesses, which fit into similar recesses inthe back-plate c, and then, when properly fastening by nuts which cannotbe turned from the exterior, the knobs `can neither be drivenihrouglrnor drawn ont, or the lock easily damaged or disarranged.

Having thus fully described my invention,

XVhat I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination ofthe plates a b c, of which a c are the lock-plates,and b is the bolt, for constituting a lock, which may serve as a dooralso, when said bolt is arranged to occupy the entire space between theouter plates, to resist the introduction of powder, substantially asdescribed. l

2. Also, in combination with the siderplates and the bolt occupying theentire space between said plates, the openings rs t t in said bolt, asherein explained, the two knobs and their shanks and tuinblers,eachforming a locking and unlocking-mechanism, in connection with thesliding bolt, one of said knobs turning and sliding, the other turningonly, as and for the purpose substantially as described.

3. Also, iucombiuation with the plates, bolt, and knobs, or theirshauks, constructed and arranged as herein described, the tumblers h,composed of the hubs i'and iianges j, and their openings, x, w, and Z,real and false, substantially as and for the purpose described. p

4. Also, in combination, the cheek-plates we and the bolt b, capable offitting and filling .the space, and sliding between them, the knobs andShanks acting both as knobs and keys, tulnblcrs, in which there are realand false openings, a: w l, and set by permutation, the whole beingarranged as and for constituting a vault or safe-lock without springs,or a removable key, substantially as described.

DANIEL SNELL.

Witnesses:

A. B. S'ronen'rox, EDMUND MASSON.

